Philosophy by the Way

When someone holds an office, it often happens that she or he doesn’t see the office only as a function they hold but as a part of their wh...

Random quote Impulses serve all things badly . Publius Papinius Statius (ca 40-96)

Although humans are animals, some kinds of behaviour are typical of humans and we don’t find them in other animals. It’s not surprising. If ...

Random quote Meaning and sense are not ‘things’ that you can find somewhere. They are made by people . Pieter Hoexum (1968-)

French monument for the victory in the First Battle of the Marne (5-12 September 1914) in the First World War. This victory stopped the Germ...

Random quote Imagination and fantasy are often highly praised, but nothing can compare to the visible and tangible reality . Pieter Hoexum ...

Source of the photo (edited) On 14 March 2026, Jürgen Habermas, one of the greatest German thinkers, died, 96 years old. Habermas was a phi...

Random quote Freedom is realized only in the mutual recognition of free and equal citizens . Jürgen Habermas (1929-2026)

The mayor's residence of Bordeaux in the time of Montaigne Most people, I think, love themselves in some way. For some this means that t...

Random quote You can’t eat images, but people will fight to the death for an idea . Michel Serres (1930-2019)

Humans are made for moving. It’s what I always have thought, or, let’s say, since I myself started to move. With the latter, I don’t mean th...

Random quote Boastful men are the scorn of wise men, the admiration of fools, the idols of parasites, and the slaves of their own boasts . ...

“A fallacy is an error in reasoning whereby someone attempts to put forward an argument whereby a conclusion supposedly has been appropriate...

Random quote The power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man . Thomas Robert Mal...

Rubin Vase If you have read my last blog, you may have noticed that I defend there a view about the relationship between mind and body that ...

Random quote Things which have most hold on us, as the concealment of our few possessions, are often a mere nothing. It is a nothing which ...

Sometimes things pop up in my mind and I feel an urge to write about it. For example, I have many books around here, but what actually is a ...

Random quote He who seeks to be eminent amongst able men has a great task, but that is always good for the public; whereas he who plots to ...

Louis XIV, alias the Sun King: King of France 1643-1715 In my blog about Machiavelli two weeks ago we have seen that basically anything is ...

Random quote In wartime, truth is whatever hurts the other side most . Adam Shatz, author (1972-)

Since I had no time to write a blog this week, instead I publish this fable by Jean de La Fontaine. I leave the interpretation to you. To my...

When distances still were distances It is the function of a letter that it preserves the feelings of sympathy that people that are far away...

In view of the present world situation, it may be a good idea to pay attention to Machiavelli’s famous book The Prince . Niccolò Machiavelli...

Random quote It is the nature of extreme self-lovers that they will set a house on fire if only to cook their eggs . Francis Bacon (1561-16...

To the trains Travelling is of all time. Only the means to travel have changed, and even these haven’t changed as much as we might think. Tr...

Random quote In taking revenge, a man is merely even with his enemy, but in passing it over he is his superior; for it is a prince’s part t...

Some time after Montaigne, also Francis Bacon (1561-1626) has written a book with essays. Some say that he has been inspired to do so by Mon...

Random quote A lot of people are gullible, who in their approval are not guided by the argument itself, but by the person who speaks, no ma...

I think that all of you know about them, but nevertheless again and again we fall into the trap: cultural misunderstandings. I got the idea ...